The present invention relates generally to a device for lifting and transporting containers and is particularly concerned with such implements or devices which are an accessory to a motor vehicle and which is capable of lifting and transporting containers intended to hold trash.
1. Field of the Invention
Throughout the United States there are a large number of sparsely populated areas and areas where housing is a considerable distance away from a country or other road.
It has become increasingly common practice to service the solid waste needs of such residents by distributing containers for storage of such solid waste materials and to designate xe2x80x9cpick upxe2x80x9d areas where the residents can position their containers for eventual disposal of solid waste by the county, municipality, or other entities, such as private contract haulers.
Such containers are often 30 gallons or more, and, when full, they are very heavy. By virtue of their size, they are cumbersome, and even when equipped with wheels, they are difficult to move from a home, perhaps down a dirt road, path or worse, to a collection point on the main road, which may be a mile or more away.
By virtue of the automation of the trash hauler vehicles, most containers now have the same of similar construction. Thus, the hauler with a pickup device similar to a fork lift, can hoist the container, irrespective of its weight, and dump the contents into the bin positioned on the bed of the truck. However, these trucks are heavy and bulky, and they will not, typically, drive back in to sparsely populated areas, on poor roads, to pick up one or two containers of solid waste. Thus, the need for designated pickup points which require the resident to somehow get his or her container to that point, or forego pickup entirely. The dilemma is, therefore, how a resident in such remote areas gets his or her container of solid waste overland to the designated pickup point.
2. Overview of the Prior Art
While the art is proliferate with little carts, and even golf carts, they still require that the container be lifted, and, by virtue of the size of the wheels, such devices are almost impossible to maneuver over grassy paths and/or rut ridden gravely roads.
The specific problem was addressed, however, in Cummins U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,178. Cummins envisioned a frame which was mountable on the tail gate of a truck and which used a series of high energy springs to assist the user in his or her effort to hoist a container off the ground for transportation to a pickup point.
The Cummins device, while capable of doing the task, is cumbersome, somewhat dangerous to the extent springs can be dangerous, and it employs a well known four bar mechanism to effect lifting, and little fingers, and even big fingers, can inadvertently get pinched in any number of readily accessible places.
The present invention relates to an accessory for a vehicle having a tow package which, when mounted to the vehicle by the tow bar, is capable of lifting and transporting a container.
It is, therefore, a principal objective of the present invention to provide to residents in remote areas an easy and convenient means of lifting and transporting their solid waste containers to and from a pickup point.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a device for lifting and transporting a container which is environmentally safe to use.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment, in conjunction with the drawing, wherein: